Chimera
Chimera was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 8-9 of Robot Wars, entered by a family team. Originally, it lost its Group Battle in Series 8 after having its tyres heavily damaged and ripped off by M.R. Speed Squared. It returned for Series 9 as Chimera2, and fought a much closer fight in its Group Battle before being immobilised by Concussion. Versions of Chimera Chimera Chimera was a thwackbot, armed with a variety of interchangeable blades and weapons, which it swings overhead by overturning the robot, utilising the power of momentum. The primary blade among the team’s selection is a three-headed spiked shaft. The robot cost less than £1,500 to build, borrowing tyres from an old Ford Fiesta, and was powered by two 24V wheelchair motors. However, the team felt that their exposed tyres give them a weakness to spinners, and the robot was slow, particularly for its weapon type, at just 6mph. It was also far below the weight limit, at just 72kg. Chimera2 Chimera2 attacked in the same way as Chimera, maintaining the thwackbot design, but featured much thinner, sturdier wheels, as well as a front wedge, decorated with blue flame decals. Its main body was wider and the robot was also heavier and faster, with HARDOX armour. The spiked thwacking arm had also been replaced with interchangeable thwacking axes, one with a single bladed head, the other with three smaller, pointed parallel heads. Chimera2 has a front wedge which runs independently of the main body, designed to deflect oncoming spinners. Some compared Chimera2's design to seasoned BattleBots competitor Toe Crusher. Etymology The name Chimera was derived from the mythical creature of the same name that is said to have the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. The TV show and official publications referred to the Series 9 version as Chimera 2, but the team stated a preference of Chimera2, without spacing. The Team Chimera was originally built by Colin Scott of Team Death, but changed ownership in 2015 to Team 53, nowadays known as Team Chimera, who rebuilt the robot in 2016 and entered it into Robot Wars. Team Chimera was captained by 17-year old Jordan Mann, nowadays Elizabeth Mann, who drove Chimera in battle. The remainder of the family team was made up of 42-year old Mark Rollins-Mann, whose responsibility was 'paperwork and compliance' according to the Robot Wars website, 63-year old Phil Mann who maintained the robot's weaponry, and 41-year old Philip Mann who assisted with repairs and logistics. Qualification Team Chimera first attempted to enter Robot Wars in its eighth series, and Chimera successfully qualified for the show through online applications, albeit as a reserve which replaced an unidentified robot in order to compete. Chimera2 qualified directly for Series 9 through open applications, after building a new and vastly improved machines. However, when the team applied for Series 10 with a slightly modified version of Chimera2, they were unsuccessful with their application. After this, Team Chimera started building a brand-new robot with the hopes of entering future series. Robot History Series 8 Chimera participated in Heat 2, filling in as a reserve for an unknown drop-out, where it faced fellow newcomers to the main competition Draven and Foxic, as well as M.R. Speed Squared. Wary of the full-body spinner M.R. Speed Squared, Chimera kept its distance away from all other robots in the arena. However, Chimera was targeted by the spinner due to its exposed wheels, and the very first blow sustained knocked Chimera's wheel loose. Despite the tyre nearly coming off, Chimera could still slowly coast around the arena, though it was closely followed by Draven. A second attack from M.R. Speed Squared removed Chimera's wheel completely, immobilising it on one side. Chimera was left to drive in circles near the wall while Draven was immobilised. Cease was called and Chimera was eliminated. Series 9 Chimera2 competed in Heat 3, facing two newcomers with spinners, Concussion and Tauron, as well as the reigning Fourth Place Thor. It entered this battle using the parallel tri-blades on its axe. In the pits, the team were joined by an audience member with a large supportive banner of Chimera2. When 'activate' was sounded, Chimera2 did not challenge any particular robot, instead testing its drive. It then drove into Concussion with its wedge, but Concussion was lower to the ground, and Chimera2 was thrown over. It righted itself and spun on the spot, before curiously driving over the arena spikes, where it was held high. Chimera2 pursued Concussion across the arena in retaliation, using its wedge. However, Chimera2 was caught from behind by Thor, which landed successive axe blows. Now trapped in a CPZ, Concussion drove under Chimera2's high ground clearance, and ripped away at its underside. Chimera2 was left on top of Concussion briefly for a 'piggy-back', but when freed, it became clear that Chimera2 was now immobile. Although Concussion lost drive to one side shortly afterwards, Chimera2 was eliminated alongside Tauron. Results |} |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 0 *Losses: 2 Series Record For information on the qualification record of Chimera's original builder, Colin Scott, see Team Death. Outside Robot Wars Chimera.jpg|Chimera under the possession of Colin Scott DSCN2781.JPG|Mini-Mera, the team's featherweight version of Chimera DSCN2799.JPG|Nautilus After Robot Wars was taken off-air, Chimera was built by Colin Scott to compete in FRA competitions. It was originally known as The Wall and armed with a horizontal spinning bar. The robot was retired in 2006, but was restored for an appearance at the 2011 UK Championships, where Chimera lost to Thor and Tiberius. In March 2012, Chimera was sold to Team Scar, who at the time, owned Robot Wars veterans Scar and Eric, before finally being sold to Team 53 in 2015, who rebranded themselves as Team Chimera. The 2016 version Chimera fought its last fight at the 2016 Cannock Robots Live! event where it fought Apollo and Meggamouse. It didn't last long in its final fight, as it was thrown eight feet in the air by Apollo, and over the heightened arena wall, twenty seconds into the battle. In April 2018, Team Chimera's new heavyweight robot Fenrir debuted. The robot is currently an invertible wedge with no active weapon, and at Extreme Robots in Manchester, it was able to defeat S.M.I.D.S.Y. before losing to TR3. Fenrir also competed at Extreme Robots in Cheltenham, but was thrown out of the arena by Ripper very quickly. Team Chimera have built a featherweight version of Chimera, known as Mini-Mera. The various team members also own the featherweight robots Nautilus and Wolfs-Bane, and a beetleweight named Pisces. Elizabeth Mann (formerly Jordan Mann) competed in the web-series Bugglebots with a new beetleweight, Nightingale, armed with a cutting disc on a moving arm. In its first battle against Good Boi, Nightingale lost the use of its saw very quickly, but still removed a wheel from Good Boi and managed to push it into the pit with six seconds left on the clock. Nightingale advanced to the heat semi-final, where it was pitted by Drizzle and eliminated. Nightingale also competed in a Whiteboard battle at the end of the series against fellow sawbot Maximum Ogredrive and American rammer Thunderchild, but lost the use of a wheel early on and was eventually pitted. In late 2017, Chimera's original builder Colin Scott built a featherweight thwackbot named Chimera's Revenge. For more information, see Team Death. Robot Wars Live Events Chimera competed at a variety of Robot Wars live events, albeit without major success. It made its 2016 debut at Manchester in a battle with Behemoth, Beast and Eruption, but quickly became immobilised. The team's featherweight Mini-Mera debuted at the same event. Chimera's successor, Chimera2, was scheduled to debut at the Gloucester event, but was not completed in time. References External Links *Chimera website *Team Chimera Facebook page *Team Chimera Twitter *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-8/week-2/chimera/ Chimera on the Robot Wars website] *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-9/week-3/chimera-2/ Chimera2 on the Robot Wars website] Category:UK Series competitors Category:Axlebots Category:Robots with Torque Reaction Weapons Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots which are still competing today Category:Competitors in Robot Wars Live Events Category:Robots with religious or mythological names Category:Robots built while Robot Wars was off-air Category:Robots which debuted in Series 8 Category:Robots with multiple appearances without winning a battle Category:Robots with alternate versions